Flat opening case



May 22, 1951 H. R. scHELL ETAL FLAT OPENING CASE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJune 7, 1949 ummm Il Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllln.` .nlnllllllllllllllillllllllllll:`

INV EN TORS May 22, 1951 H. R. scm-:LL mL 2,554,215

FLAT OPENING CASE Filed June 7, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN1/B11170115.HORACE SCHELL BY CLA/95N@ E 5CH/.CLL

Patented May 22, 1951 FLAT OPENING CASE Horace R. Schell and ClarenceF.V Schell, Cincinnati, Ohio Application June 7, 1949, Serial No. 97,562

1. Claimf (Cl. 15G-1.6)

This invention relates to brief cases of the type that are folded doublewhen closed and are laid out flat when open, and more particularly to acase so arranged that the handle may be attachedv to the fold line ofthe case, that is at a location which ordinarily is' regarded as thebottorn of the case.

An object cf the invention is to provide a brief case as above setforth.having a slide fastener closure for the opposite sides and thebottom thereof, and having a handle at the top secured to the fold` linethereof.

Another object; of the invention is to provide a case of the typesetforth above having interior pockets which open towards the fold linethereof so that papers carried in the brief case will not becomeentangled in the slide fastener.

A further object of this invention is to provide a flat opening` casehaving. asingle handle and pockets for carrying papers which pocketsopen toward the handle so that the pockets are upright when the. case iscarried.

A further object ofY thisvinvention'is to provide a at opening casehaving. side panels which.

open flat and which are provided with a slide fastener closure Yaboutthe edges of the side panels, paper .carrying pockets being attached tothe side panels which pockets open away from the slide fastener so thatedges of papers in the pockets do not interfere with the slide fastener.

Briefly, this` invention provides a flat opening case having a back orfold portion to which a handle is attached and side panels hinged to theback portion which side panels hang downwardly when the case is closed.The side panels may carry pockets that open toward the back portion sothat when the case is carried by the handle, the pockets are upright.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will in partbe apparent and will in part be obvious from the following detaileddescrip-tion and the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a slide fastener case constructedin accordance with an embodiment of this invention, the case being shownfolded and in closed position;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the interior of the caseillustrated in Fig. l, the case being shown open in flat position;

Fig. 3 is a view in section taken along a line III-III in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a View in section taken along a line IV--IV in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a plan view showing a metal plate which forms a part of thehandle assembly of the case illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive;

panels on the same side as the gussets.

Open.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing an underarm case having a handleconstructed in accordance with this invention; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view in transverse section showing' theconstruction of the back of a ring binder case having a handleconstructed in accordance with this invention.

In the following detailed description and the drawings, like referencelcharacters indicate like parts.

In Figs. l to 5 inclusive is shown a slide fastener case having acentral back or fold portion I0 and side panels I2, the back portion andside panels being formed from a single sheet of flexible material,preferably top grain leather. Between the back portion Il) and' sidepanels I2, the leather forms hinge sections I3 along which the sidepanels can be folded so that the side panels may be laid parallel and inalignment with the` back portion when the case is open, as shown in Fig.2,

ver the side panels may be folded into registry, as

shown in Fig. 1, when the case is closed. Gussets I4 attached to thefree edges of the side panels carry slide fastener elements I5, and theslide fastener elements may be attached together, as shown in Fig. '1,to hold edges of the side panels in engaged relationship when the caseis closed. A conventional slide I6 is provided for causing the fastenerelements to engage and disengage.

Pocket members I l are attached to the side The pockets I1 haveaccordion pleated sides so that the pockets can be expanded, and thepockets open toward the back portion of the case, i. e., toward thecenter of the case when the case is Thus, papers which may be carried inthe pockets extend away from the slide fastener elements I6 so that thepapers in the pockets do not interfere with the fastener elements.

A handle I8 is attached to the outside of the back portion of the case.The handle I8 may be formed from a strip of leather or the like. A metalstrip or plate I9 is mounted inside the back portion of the leathersheet which covers the case and is attached thereto by rivets 2I.Details of the plate I9 are shown in Fig. 5. The plate is in the form ofa channel having a wide web 22 and low flanges 23. The web includesperforations 24 for the rivets 2| and, in addition, a pair of alignedslots 26 which extend crosswise of the case and are adapted to receiverivets 2l which are attached to ends of the handle strip I8.

The rivets 2l are mounted in the slots 26, one end of each rivet beingslidable along one of the slots. The other end of each rivet extendsthrough a slot 28 in the leather backing portion and is attached to anend of the handle i8 so that the handle is adjustable between anextended position, shown in Fig. 4, in which the handle is spaced fromthe back portion of the case, and a retracted position in which thehandle is substantially flush with the back portion of the case.Appropriate washers may be mounted on the rivets 2l to serve as bearingswhich slide along the slots 26 with the rivets.

As shown in Fig. 3, an inner or cover strip 29 of leather or the likecovers the metal strip on the inside of the case. The flanges of themetal strip hold the cover strip 29 away from the rivet heads.

As will be clear from the drawings, when the case is carried by thehandle I8, the pockets open upwardly and papers in the pockets willnormally be held in place by gravity. However, when the slide fasteneris opened or closed, it cannot interfere with papers in the pockets, forthe papers extend away from the slide fastener elements.

In Fig. 6 is shown an underarm case which has side panels 3 I, a narrowback portion 32, a handle 33 and slide fastener elements 34. The slidefastener elements are attached directly to edges of the side panels 3|,and the case shown in Fig. 6 differs from that shown in Figs. 1 to 5inclusive in that no gussets are provided between the side panels andthe slide fastener elements. How ever, in other details, the case shownin Fig. 6 may correspond with the case shown in Figs. l to inclusive,and the case shown in Fig. 6, may if desired, include pockets openingtoward the handle, though such pockets are not essential to this type ofcase.

In Fig. 7 is shown a ring binder case having a similar handleconstruction. The case illustrated in Fig. 7 includes a back portion 36inside which a metal plate 31 is mounted, the metal plate being similarin detail to the plate I9. An inner leather strip 38 covers the metalplate 3l', and rivets 39 extend through the inner strip 38 toV attachthe strip 31 to the inner leather strip and to the back of a ring binderelement 4I. Rivets 42 extend through slots in the metal plate 3l and areattached to ends of a handle 43 which handle may be adjustable betweenretracted and extended position in the same manner as the handle of thecase shown in Figs. l to 5 inclusive. As will 'ne understood, the ringbinder case shown in Fig. 7'may include side panels hinged to the backportion 36 which side panels can cover papers held by the rings of thering binder in the usual manner.

The cases described above and illustrated in the drawing are of the flatopening type and may be laid flat upon a desk or table, but, whenclosed, the cases require only a single handle centrally located at theback portion rather than the pair of handles which has been commonheretofore with flat opening cases.

The embodiments of the invention described above and illustrated in thedrawing are subject to modification without departing from the spiritand scope of the appended claim.

Having described our invention, what we claim as novel and desire tosecure by Letters Patent In combination with a case having a backportion and a pair of side panels attached to and extending in oppositedirections from' the back portion, an elongated metal plate on theinside of said back portion, said plate containing a pair of spacedaligned slots extending lengthwise of the back portion, the back portionof the case having a pair of slots in registry with the slots in theplate, a rivet mounted in each slot of the plate and extending throughthe slot in the back portion in registry therewith, and a handle offlexible material on the outside of the back portion, opposite ends ofsaid handle being attached to said rivets, said rivets being slidable insaid slots between a handle extended position in which the centralportion of the handle is spaced from the back portion of the case and ahandle retracted position in which the handle is substantially inabutting relation with the back portion of the case.

HORACE R. SCHELL. CLARENCE F. SCHELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,090,553 Mashek Mar. 17, 19141,149,634 Crig'ler Aug. l0, 1915 1,598,719 Hiering Sept. 7, 19261,736,640 Waterer Nov. 19, 1929 2,091,531 Stelljes Aug. 31, 19372,106,911 Garfinkel Feb. l, 1938 2,173,120 Litton Sept. 19, 19392,181,208 Satz Nov. 28, 1939 2,214,632 Brown, Jr. Sept. 10, 19402,226,387 Reuben Dec. 24, 1940 2,493,182 Beder Jan. 3, 1950

